


up in the air

by jcc_seo



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Air Bender Kun, Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Cute Ending, Earth Bender Johnny, M/M, Pining, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:21:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29094921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jcc_seo/pseuds/jcc_seo
Summary: Johnny knew it was a stupid idea but he also knew that joining the Order of the White Lotus was the only way he that he would be able to see the beautiful Air Nomad again.
Relationships: Suh Youngho | Johnny/Qian Kun
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17
Collections: Johnny Fic Fest: Round Two





	up in the air

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there, this is prompt #JS068!  
> I hope you enjoy!

Johnny poked his head around the wall that they were hiding behind to scan the market yet again. “Can you put that away and come help me with the lookout?” He sighed when he turned around and saw Doyoung in the same position as earlier. 

Doyoung reluctantly pocketed his book and stood up from underneath the shade of the tree. He then stuck his head around the wall like Johnny had done earlier. “Do you remember the plan?” 

“Yes, use my bending to cause a scene so that everyone will leave the market to go and see what happened,” Doyoung hummed, urging Johnny to continue. “And then I run in and grab the things.” 

Doyoung scoffed, “you mean steal the things.”

“It’s not stealing if we give it to people who need it.” Johnny winked at his friend.

“Yeah, whatever.” Doyoung pulled the black mask from the inner pocket of his robe and handed it to Johnny. “And don’t forget-“

“No matter what, don’t let anyone see your face,” Johnny mimicked Doyoung’s voice. He had heard this at least 10 times a day since they first came up with the idea. 

They both peered around the wall and scanned the market one final time. It wasn’t too busy at this time of day but there were a few White Lotus members around.

“Okay, just wait for these Lotuses to walk away and then work your magic. I’ll signal you.” 

Johnny moved away from the wall and dug his feet into the ground, ready to bend the earth when he was told. 

“Now!” Doyoung whisper yelled. 

Johnny lifted chunks out of the earth, took a deep breath, and pushed it out as far as he could. The solid earth flew through the air at a rapid speed and it only stopped when it crashed into the fountain just outside of the small market. 

The commotion was instant. Everyone dropped what they were doing and ran towards the loud noise, including the lotus members.

“GO!” Doyoung urged once the market centre was empty.

Johnny ran as fast as his feet could carry him. Once he was in the now deserted market he grabbed as many things as he could. Food, blankets, clothes, anything he could show into his satchel. 

“TURTLEDUCK!’ 

Johnny froze, that was his and Doyoung’s code to abort the mission. Johnny turned and saw a White Lotus member dressed head to toe in Air Nomad robes running towards him. 

Johnny knew he had to run but he was stuck in place, too busy admiring the man’s beautiful face. 

The man was only an arms length away from Johnny when a cabbage cart came hurtling towards him and knocked him off his feet. 

“C’mon!” Doyoung urged and Johnny finally ran. 

They only stopped running once they were miles away from the market, hidden in a small cave. Johnny burst into a fit of breathless laughter and he sat against one of the stone walls.

“It’s not funny!” Doyoung said and he hunched over, trying to catch his breath. 

“I can’t believe you pushed the cabbage cart!” Johnny said in between giggles. 

Doyoung sat next to Johnny and threw his head back onto the stone. “Shut up. He would’ve caught you if I didn’t!”

“Maybe I wanted him to catch me,” Johnny teased, elbowing Doyoung in his side. “Did you see how hot he was? He literally looked ethereal.” 

“Ethereal my ass, we could’ve both been in jail,” Doyoung hit his best friend across the arm.

“Owwwww,” Johnny whined, playfully hitting his friend back. “You know I’d never let you get in trouble.” 

“Yeah, whatever.” Doyoung stood up and extended a hand out to Johnny. “Let’s go give this stuff out and call it a day.” 

Johnny took his hand and pulled himself off the ground. “Race you there.” 

It was past sunset by the time they walked into Doyoung’s house and their late arrival hadn’t been missed by Doyoung’s father.

“What have you two been doing out so late?” Doyoung’s father questioned once the boys had taken their seats at the dinner table. 

“We-“ Johnny stopped. He couldn’t really tell his best friends dad, who happened to be one of the most respected benders in the Earth Kingdom and his earth bending master, that they had been giving stolen goods to the vagrants down by the river. 

“We were out by the caves. Johnny was practicing his bending and we completely lost track of time.” Doyoung spluttered out. Johnny was thankful that his best friend was a quick thinker.

“I see,” Mr. Kim nodded, satisfied with the answer. “Well, you made it just in time for dinner. Johnny, will you be joining us this evening? I made dumplings and I know how much you love them.” 

“Thank you, Mr. Kim, I’d love to stay.” 

Doyoung rolled his eyes. “He never makes my favourite dishes.”

“So tell me,” Mr Kim said as he pushed the last dumpling towards Johnny with his chopsticks. “How is your brother coping now that his best friend is undergoing Avatar training?”

“Donghyuck is actually doing very well. He was quite upset at first because he was scared that he would lose his best friend but Mark, although busy with his Avatar duties, seems to be keeping plenty of time open for his friend,” Johnny lowered his head in a slight bow before he picked up the dumpling offered to him. “And I think Donghyuck is very much enjoying all the perks of having the Avatar as his friend.”

“I’m glad to hear-“ a knock on the door echoed through the house. “Excuse me for a minute” 

As soon as Mr. Kim had turned the corner, Doyoung silently stood up from his seat and tiptoed to look around the corner. When Doyoung turned around with eyes big as saucers and shuffled quickly back to his seat, Johnny felt his heartbeat pick up rapidly. 

“There’s White Lotus members at my door!” Doyoung hissed out through gritted teeth, panic evident in his voice. “They know what we did! They’re going to arrest us.” Doyoung started nervously biting his nails. 

“Okay, just calm down,” Johnny was lying if he said he wasn’t panicking too, but he had to keep his friend in check. “Deny everything, play dumb. There’s no way they could know it was us.” 

Mr. Kim walked into the room and the boys both froze. “Well, you two look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” 

“Oh, haha we just,” Johnny tried to expel any nervousness from his voice. “we saw a really big bug.”

Mr. Kim rolled his eyes as he sat down. 

Doyoung visibly relaxed before he asked, “who was at the door, Dad?” 

“Ahh, some Lotus members. There was a robbery at the market today” Doyoung side eyed Johnny. “And to make matters worse,” Mr. Kim continued, “they didn’t just steal. They destroyed the fountain as well. Destruction of property and theft in one day, it’s honestly a disgrace.”

“I can’t understand why someone would ever do something like that,” Johnny said, putting on his most exasperated expression. 

“Why did they come see you about it?” Doyoung squinted at his father.

“Well if you remember Doyoung, I’m a very well respected member of our kingdom and I am often informed of these things. It’s so that I can help them if possible.” Mr. Kim quipped. “Now, Johnny I think it’s best that you get going as we have a training session at sunrise tomorrow.”

“Yes, Mr. Kim. I will see you bright and early tomorrow.” 

“I’ve had an idea,” Johnny announced as he joined Doyounf at his usual reading spot under the shade next to the river.

“That’s a funny way to say good morning,” Doyoung didn’t even take his eyes off of his book as he spoke.

“Good morning Doyoung,” Johnny rolled his eyes at his friends and tapped him sarcastically on the shoulder. 

“That’s better,” Doyoung still hadn’t taken his eyes off of his book. “Wait, don’t you have training?” 

“We finished early because your dad said he had stuff to sort out with the Lotus,” Johnny shrugged. Okay anyway, can I tell you about my idea now?”

“Go ahead.” 

“I want to become a Lotus,” Johnny exclaimed, proud of his idea. 

For the first time, Doyoung lifted his eyes from his book. “You mean you, Johnny Suh, want to become a member of The Order of the White Lotus?” Doyoung let out a few over exaggerated giggles. “Please, entertain me,” Doyoung motioned with his hand for Johnny to continue. 

“I’m serious! I’ve had this thought these past couple of days-“

“Oh last time you had a thought we robbed the market, this has got to be good,” Doyoung playfully crossed his arms and leant further back onto the tree.

“I was thinking about that hot Air Nomad we saw yesterday and how an easy way to see him would be to join the Lotus.” Johnny hadn’t just thought about it, he had agonised over it the whole night. Every time he closed his eyes to sleep, all he saw was the stunning man and the way his Air Nomad robes fell perfectly on his frame, the way thehis tattoos that he worked so hard for looked exquisite against his skin and the White Lotus badge placed just over his heart. 

“Johnny,” Doyoung grabbed him by the shoulders and forced Johnny to look him in the eyes, effectively pulling him out of his thoughts. “Do you realiserealise what you want to do right now? You want to go through a whole procedure of things and then dedicate your whole life to an Order, just to see a stupid Air Nomad. And you don’t even know you’ll see him again. Do you realise how ridiculous you sound right now”

“I know but-“ Johnny started but was cut off

“Wait,” Doyoung furrowed his eyebrows and started shaking Johnny by the shoulders as if it would shake some sense into him. “Why don’t you just speak to your brother, you know, the kid’s best friend is the Avatar, the whole reason the Lotus is here in the first place."

“Doyoungie” Johnny shook free from his friend's grip. “I’ve really been thinking it over okay and the more I think about it, the better it seems. I don’t know what else I’m going to do with my life, I don’t have a plan like you. So this might not be the worst thing in the world,” he rid his voice of all humour. 

Johnny was already rummaging through his bag by the time Doyoung began to speak again, seeming slightly taken aback. “You’ve really thought about this, haven’t you.”

“I have.” It was true. He’d played over all the pros and cons in his head a million times and the pros seemed to out weigh the cons. This could be a serious career choice for him, he was a good enough bender and he’d always wanted to use his bending in his career choice. And the best part was that he could see that Air Nomad again. “I even spoke to your dad,” 

“You did? What did he say?” Doyoung was now sitting at full attention.

Johnny finally found what he was looking for in his satchel and handed it to Doyoung.

“What’s this?” Doyoung slowly unravelled the scroll.

“Like I said, I spoke to your dad. And he thinks it’s a good idea, he thinks it’s a good direction for me to take in life,” Johnny smiled slightly to himself at the slight surprise on Doyoung’s face. “This scroll has all the things I need to do to join the order.” 

Doyoung squinted and leant towards the writing on the scroll. “There’s only one thing on here?” 

“Yup,” Johnny sighed. “Be given a White Lotus Pai Sho tile by a member of the order.”

“How hard can that be?” Doyoung chuckled.

“Oh Doyoung, you have no idea how hard it actually is.”

“Okay so let’s get this straight,” Doyoung was panting slightly from trying to keep up with Johnny’s long strides as they walked up the small hill that led them away from the river. “To join the order you have to get given the Pai Sho tile.” 

“Correct.”

“But to get the tile you have to prove yourself by completing the trial?” 

“Hmmh.”

“And you have no idea what this trial is?” 

“Exactly”

Doyoung was now panting even harder after talking ceaselessly as they climbed the incline. 

“So now, pray tell, how do you plan on passing a  
?” Doyoung came to a stop and put his hands on his hips, trying to seem stern but all trying to completely catch his breath. 

“Well, tomorrow I’m going to talk to Master Zhou, like your dad said, and take it from there. ApparentlyApparantly Master Zhou decides if someone isif fit to try join them and he will send you for training before your trial.” 

Doyoung rolled his eyes like Johnny had seen so many times before. “I hate that you’re smart enough to think through your dumb plans.” 

Johnny started digging through his satchel and handed another piece of paper to Doyoung. “What’s this now?”

“It’s a shopping list,” Johnny laughed. “My mom sent me shopping and you’re helping.” 

Despite the scene that they had caused yesterday, the market seemed to be pretty much back to normal, except for the few Lotus members and City Guard that stood alert around the fountain, and the hand sketched wanted posters of a man in an all black mask.

Johnny felt his heart sink slightly when he saw the poster littered all around but he quickly pulled himself towards himself, willing all anxious thoughts to leave him. He wanted to avoid Doyoung freaking out and he logically knew that there was no way to tell he was behind the mask.

“Oh my god, Johnny, we’re going to be in so much trouble,” Doyoung started gnawing at the skin on his thumb, something he always did when he was nervous.

Johnny quickly smacked his hand away from his face. “No, we aren’t. They have no way to know it was us, so just act normal. Everything is fine, we’re fine. Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to do my normal everyday shopping.” Johnny gave a mini salute to Doyoung and started cockily walking backwards. 

His cockiness quickly drained from his body when he felt himself bump into something, or rather someone, causing them to drop all their belongings onto the ground.

“I am, so so so sorry,” Johnny began apologising profusely as he instantly dropped to the floor to help retrieve the dropped goods. His heart jolted slightly when he saw hands covered in blue arrow tattoos reaching to pick up a heada head of cabbage but his heart sank right down into his stomach when he stood up and saw his face. 

In front of him stood the Air Nomad he saw yesterday in all his glory. From this proximity,, Johnny could see the mole under his eyebrow and he couldn’t help but think how cute it was. He could also see the smooth and straight lines of the tattoo that ran right across his head and he wondered if it took a long time to complete. 

“It’s not a problem,” the man smiled sweetly, dimples on full display, and he reached his hand forward to try to grab the groceries that Johnny had picked up from the floor. Johnny tried to hand them all over to him but the man’s hands were too full and a stray persimmon fell from Johnny’s grip and rolled away. Johnny cringed to himself at how awkward the situation was becoming and part of him wished he could just shrivel up and disappear out of this situation.

“Ten! Please come give me a hand here!“ The man called over his shoulder and then he turned back to Johnny with a somewhat sympathetic look in his eyes. Johnny couldn’t quite figure out why, seeing as he was the reason they were in this predicament in the first place.

“Sorry sorry,” another man, also sporting blue arrow tattoos and Air Nomad robes, ran over and began quickly taking things out of Johnny’s hands and putting them into a small wicker basket. 

“I’m really sorry,” Johnny scratched the back of his neck as he looked at the man, who Johnny realised was slightly shorter than him. 

“Don’t worry about it.” And with that,, the Nomad flashed another dimpled smile, whipped around effortlessly, and started walking away with the other man. 

Johnny felt a heat rising in his cheeks as he watched them walk into the market until they were lost in the crowd. He hadn’t realised his hands had been trembling slightly. 

“Well that was freaking awkward,” Doyoung pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head slightly. 

It wasn’t awkward, it was downright embarrassing and Johnny hated every moment of it, he wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole. “I hate my life.” 

“So that’s him?” 

“Yup, that’s him.” Johnny was so mortified by the whole interaction that he was struggling to put simple sentences together. 

“So there you go, there he is, you saw him again and now you don’t have to change your whole life plan and join the order.” 

“I still want to join,’ Johnny was still in shell shoc,k and hecouldn’t couldn’ t even be bothered to argue that he wasn’t actually changing his life plan because he didn’t actually have one until now. And besides, even though he had seen the man again, he wanted to see him again, and again, and again. 

They were busy looking through the vegetable stalls, trying to find everything on the list, and Johnny was replaying the encounter in his head for at least the 15th time when he realised. “What was his friend’s name?”

“What?” Doyoung briefly looked up at Johnny with furrowed eyebrows before he started digging through the tomatoes again.

“The Air Nomad, he called his friend. What was his name? T-“ Johnny searched into his mind again, replaying the conversation again but coming short at the information he truly needed. 

“Ten, I think?” Doyoung picked up a good looking tomato and put it into his basket before he moved onto the onion stand. 

“Kim Doyoung I love your brain!” Johnny quickly put down the leek he was holding and wrapped his arms around his friend’s neck. Doyoung started squirming in his grip to try and get free and when Johnny let go, Doyoung smoothed out the front of his robes, full of indignation. 

There was a spark of hope in Johnny’s chest at the prospect of having some sort of information about the man that had plagued his dreams because knowing something was better than knowing nothing at all.

Once inside his own house, after bidding farewell to Doyoung after their shopping adventure, Johnny dropped the groceries in their designated place and went instantly to find his brother.

Donghyuck was exactly where Johnny expected him to be, perched on the lowest branch of the tree outside their house with his sketchbook in hand, but what he hadn’t expected was to see Mark standing a few paces away from the tree. At least now he could talk to Mark directly, things were falling into place.

Johnny watched as Mark dug his feet into the ground and closed his eyes and then Mark let out a small whine. “Why isn’t this working?” Mark still had a whining tone in his voice when he looked up at Donghyuck. 

“What are you trying to do?” Mark and Donghyuck both visibly jumped when Johnny called out to them and Johnny chuckled slightly to himself, clearly, they hadn’t seen him come in. 

“I’m trying to do this air bending thing but is too hard,” Mark’s distaste was evident in his voice as he spoke. Johnny couldn’t help but think it was sweet that Mark still had such a childish glint in him, even though he was one of the most important people in the world. At the end of the day, he was still only thirteen years old.

“Uh speaking of air bending, can I ask you something?” He figured that Doyoung had made a solid point earlier when he suggested that he ask his brother. If anyone could help give him information. “Well, two things actually?” 

Doyoung groaned as he jumped down from his position in the tree. “You only talk to us when you want something.”

“That’s not true!” Johnny put his hand over his heart, letting out exasperated gasps, although he knew there was some truth in his brother’s statement.

Donghyuck slapped his hand away and rolled his eyes when Johnny faked flinched pain. 

“What do you need to ask?” Mark was as polite and eager to help as ever and Johnny speculated that that was the Avatar in him. 

“Wait Mark, why should we help him?” Donghyuck glared at his brother. 

“I bought mangos and you won’t get any if you don’t help me,” Johnny grinned a little as he watched the mischievousness drain out of his brother's face. Johnny knew how much Donghyuck loved mango, it was a great bribery tool that he discovered a few years ago.

“Okay, what do you need?’ Donghyuck was now void of any cheekiness.

You know some of the Order of the White Lotus members, right?” Johnny felt a little ting of joy in his chest when Mark nodded. “Do you know some of the Air Nomads?” Again, another tinge of joy as Mark nodded for the second time. 

“Yeah, what about them?” Mark effortlessly bended the earth to make a sort of stool for him to sit on and Johnny decided to do the same, although his wasn’t quite as effortless as how Mark had done it. Donghyuck scoffed at the benders causing Mark to bend him a stool too. 

“Well I saw this one really attractive Air Nomad and I’m trying to figure out who he is,” Johnny watched as his little brother rolled his eyes for the nth time. 

“A boy? This is about a boy?” 

“Yes it is and I won’t give you any mango if you don’t pipe down. Anyway, Mark, I don’t know his name but I heard him talk to another Air Nomad named Ten.” Johnny watched as Mark furrowed his eyebrows and he slowly felt the sparks of hope slowly fizzle out.

“Oh wait! Ten, kinda short, nice nose?” The sparks were back. 

“Yes!” Johnny felt embarrassment creep up his neck as the two boys flinched slightly as the two boys flinched at his enthusiasm. “Uh, do you know his friend? He’s kinda tall, beautiful face, dimpled smile, mole under his eyebrow-“

“Okay we get it, you think he’s cute,” Donghyuck stopped him and more embarrassment rose in him. 

“I think his name is Kun?” Mark scratched the back of his head, not too sure. “I think I’ve trained with him once before? He seems really nice.” 

Kun, his name was Kun. What a beautiful name for a beautiful man.

“What was that other thing?” Johnny could see that Mark was starting to get a little awkward. 

With a deep breath, Johnny launched straight into it. “No one is allowed to laugh but I want to join the Order.”

Donghyuck was laughing so hysterically that he was bent over clutching his stomach. “Y-you w-w-wan- to join.” Johnny knew it must sound ridiculous but he was standing strong in his decision. 

Mark glared at his friend and then looked at Johnny with some sort of sympathy. “I think it’s great that you’ve decided your life path.” Johnny was somewhat thankful for the boy's positivity, he really needed someone to believe in him right now. 

Johnny began explaining what he needed to do get into the Lotus and Mark listened with great intent and Donghyuck sat trying to stifle his laughter. 

“So what do you need from me?” Mark asked once Johnny finished his explanation. 

“Could you maybe put in a good word for me with Master Zhou?” It felt a little silly now because he knew realistically that this wasn’t how it worked. 

“I’m sorry Johnny, I don’t think that’s how it works.” Mark looked at him with honest sympathy in his eyes. “I don’t really think what I saw will make a difference. If I’ve learnt anything from them it's that you have to prove yourself.”

“Yeah, I figured.” Johnny tried to not feel too let down because he knew realistically he had to do it himself. “Okay now let’s go eat some mango.” 

“Heck yeah!” Donghyuck jumped up from his chair and Johnny felt his heart lighten as he watched his brother drag Mark into the house with such enthusiasm. 

Master Zhou wasn’t at all what Johnny had expected. Before their meeting, Mr. Kim had given Johnny an extremely lengthy talk about the correct and polite way to speak to the Master in order to leave a good impression. This left Johnny feeling rather anxious to talk to the man, the fear of messing up very prevalent, as he expected him to be strict and cranky. 

What he didn’t expect was for the Earth Bender to be sat in his chamber with one leg thrown over the arm of his chair and petting a grumpy looking catgator. When Johnny bowed in greeting the man quickly ushered him up and offered him one of the many pastries littered around his quarters. 

“Just relax,” he had told Johnny upon seeing the slight nervousness of all his movements. 

Master Zhou had pulled up a seat for Johnny in front of him and summoned some tea, which Johnny graciously thanked him for and was told to stop being so polite. It felt strange to Johnny, not quite knowing how to draw the line between formalities, like Mr. Kim had so desperately urged, and friendliness, like Master Zhou encouraged. Johnny decided to loosen up a little but still keep some politeness, after all as he was speaking to one of the head Masters of the Order of The White Lotus.

“So tell my Mr. Suh, why would a strapping 18 year old, like yourself, want to join a gang of old, Pai Sho playing cronies?” Master Zhou finished off his sentence by taking a loud audible slurp of his tea. 

This was one of the questions Mr. Kim had gone through with him, taught him how to answer, he was confident when he began reciting the script given to him by his teacher. “I want to join the Order because I think it is an excellent society with an outstanding initiative-“

Johnny felt his blood run cold when Master Zhou shook his head and raised his hand to stop him. What had he done wrong? He’s doing exactly as told. 

“Mr. Suh let’s cut the nonsense, shall we. I don’t want you to tell me what you think I want to hear. I want to know why you’re actually here. I see potential in you and I hope that you can show me your real self.” Master Zhou swallowed down another jam tart in one bite and then looked Johnny dead in the eye. “So, why do you want to join us?”

Johnny took a deep breath. He didn’t get nervous easily, always the one to keep his cool in the situation, but something about this was making him more jittery than he’d like to admit. 

“Relax.” Johnny wasn’t quite sure if Master Zhou was talking to him or the catgator that was starting to squirm in his lap but none the less, Johnny took another breath and tried again.

“I’ve never really had a plan for my life and I’ve been mulling it over and I think that joining the White Lotus could give me that direction I’ve been searching for.” Johnny studied the Master’s face for any reaction, but he saw none. 

“That was slightly better but that’s not the real reason is it?” The man was now squinting and pursing his lips. “Your application will be denied within the next 5 minutes if you do not speak the whole truth.”

Johnny wasn’t quite sure if it was anger, at the older man’s actions, or embarrassment, at what the whole truth actually was, that bubbled up in his stomach. But he gritted his teeth and took one last breath. He was going to be denied anyway, he may as well tell the other reason why he wants to join. 

“3 minutes left.”

Johnny lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to say this to the Masters’s face. “Okay, what I said earlier was part of the truth but it wasn’t all it. I originally wanted to join the White Lotus because… I saw this Air Nomad and I thought he was very attractive and I want to see him more.” Had he really just said that? Had he just confessed his stupid little crush for an Air Nomad in front of the head White Lotus of the air kingdom? He was such an idiot. 

When Johnny lifted his gaze he hadn’t expected Master Zhou to be grinning ear to ear. “Excellent!” Master Zhou jumped up from his seat, causing his catgator to jump to the floor with an unimpressed grunt, and clapped his hands excitedly. “That’s what I want to hear! You spoke your truth, and that is what I value above all else. And we finally might get some romance in this dreary organisation.” 

It was as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, he felt his body physically relax and he let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. 

Master Zhou had retaken his seat, this time sitting with both legs thrown over the arm of the chair. “So, who is he?” 

The question had embarrassment creeping up Johnny’s neck again but the feeling was quite common over the past few days. “I think his name is Kun. “ Johnny awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. 

“Kun, Kun , Kun,” Master Zhou tapped his chin as he thought. “Oh, Qian! An Air Nomad?” 

Johnny meekly nodded. 

“I love when the nations collide like this.” Another tart was presented to Johnny and he bowed slightly as he received it. “I think I will ask Iniki if he would allow Mr. Qian to help you through your trails.”

Johnny choked on the tart he had just swallowed, small pieces of tart flying out of his mouth onto the floor. Did this mean he was accepted? And that he’d be working with the Air Nomad. Johnny took the fresh tea handed to him and took a big sip, trying to stop his spluttering. 

Master Zhou stood up and made his way towards Johnny. Johnny quickly stood too. 

“I will see you early tomorrow morning with more information about your training. I have big hopes for you Mr. Suh.” 

Johnny quickly bowed. “Thank you, Master Zhou.”

Johnny left the building with a newfound spring in his step. This could actually work. He spotted Doyoung and his father sitting on a bench outside the building and they both shot up when Johnny called out to them. 

“What did he say?”

“Are you in?” 

“He said I must see him tomorrow to talk about my trails.” Johnny felt his heart lighted as the joy in his best friend's face grew and he had to stop himself from stumbling backwards when Doyoung wrapped his arms around Johnny’s neck. This was weird, Doyoung wasn’t usually affectionate like this. 

“I’m so happy for you’” Doyoung announced as he pulled away from the hug. Mr. Kim was looking at Johnny with an emotion he couldn’t really read. It lay somewhere between pride and worry. 

What exactly had he gotten himself into? 

“You did what!” Johnny’s mother’s chopsticks fell from her hands and clattered down onto the table. Donghyuck was sniggering into his bowl of rice at seeing his brother get shouted at. 

“Mom, can I speak?” Johnny gently placed down his utensils as he turned to his mom.

“I think you’ve done more than enough speaking John,” Johnny grimaced at the use of his real name and he let out his frustration by kicking his, still sniggering, brother under the table. 

“Please?” Johnny put on the most pleading expression he could muster. Maybe starting off the conversation by saying that he’s leaving home for a few days wasn’t the right thing to do. 

Johnny had met with Master Zhou earlier this morning and was told that he would have to spend the next few days at a training facility for hopeful White Lotus recruits.

“Mom, I’ve really thought about this. I want to join the Order because I think it’s a good path for me to take, it’ll give me a solid future. Mr. Kim and I have discussed it at length and he thinks it’s a good choice for me. I hope that you can support.” 

Johnny’s mom gingerly picked up her chopsticks and sighed. “I’m sorry. I was just a little shocked, is all. I do support you, you know I will always support you in what you want to do. I just wish you had maybe discussed it with me before.”

“He discussed it with me.” Donghyuck flashed a cheeky grin and Johnny kicked hard at his shins. 

“So, how does it all work now?” He was happy that his mother wasn’t yelling at him anymore, he had been slightly scared that she would’ve been upset. 

“For the next few days I got to one of their training facilities, and I get given a mentor to train and ensure that I am ready to undergo the trails.”

“How long will you be gone?” His mother had now relaxed a little more and had returned to eating her rice. 

“I’m not too sure. About a week, I think.”

“And where exactly are you going?”

“I honestly don’t know. It could be anywhere in the world, in any nation.” Johnny honestly hadn’t been told too much about what was to come, it was as if they kept it top secret. His mother’s incessant question asking was starting to make him realise how little he actually knew and his anxiety was slowly growing. “They haven’t told me much and it’s making me a little nervous, can we stop talking about it?”

“The last question, I promise. When do you leave?”

“Umm, tomorrow.” Johnny half whispered, again scared of his mother’s reaction. 

“John! You could have at least given me a little more warning!” 

As Johnny approached the gate of the White Lotus’ current headquarters, he tried to turn the fear bubbling in the pit of his stomach into excitement. 

His mother had made sure his bag was packed with anything he could possibly need before she bid him farewell. A few tears fell from her eyes as she mumbled something about her children growing up too fast, that they’re already leaving the nest. To which Johnny assured her that he would only be gone for a week and that he’d be back in no time. 

Even Donghyuck had hugged him goodbye. It was strange accordance considering that Donhyuck never liked showing physical affection. The moment was lost when then asked their mother if Mark could spend the week at them to fill the void of his brother leaving.

Johnny had met Mr. Kim at his house so that he could accompany Johnny to the headquarters and Doyoung used it as his opportunity to say goodbye to his friend as well. “Don’t die,” he had said. 

Johnny chuckled to himself as he thought about how dramatic everyone was acting, he’d only be gone for a week.

Mr. Kim was no different as he pulled Johnny from his thoughts with a tap on the back. “Good luck,” said his mentor. “I’m happy you’re doing this John. I think the White Lotus could really use some young blood like you. Please, just, stay safe wherever you go.” 

Johnny smiled earnestly as Mr. Kim took both of his hands and squeezed them reassuringly. 

“Mr. Kim,” Johnny started. “Why does everyone seem so worried?” It had been playing on his mind a lot over the course of this morning. 

“Well, no one knows exactly what this training includes; t’s a secret only privy to the people who undergo it.” Mr. Kim let out a thin lipped smile. “But the rumours speak of how demanding they are.” 

Johnny nodded, understanding. The fear again overtook the excitement he had found earlier. 

“Ah! young Mr. Suh!” Master Zhou announced his presence, disrupting the moment Johnny and Mr. Kim were having. Today, Master Zhou was wearing the classic White Lotus robes except instead of the traditional loafers, he wore fluffy green slippers. 

Johnny bowed to great him but before he could get an actual word in, Master Zhou was already speaking again. 

“Mr. Suh, your accomplices for your journey are waiting to meet you,” Master Zhou cut to the chase. “If you would follow me.” 

Master Zhou started walking away into the forest situated beside the headquarters and Johnny quickly turned to say goodbye to Mr. Kim who squeezed his hand one more time. “Good luck, Johnny,” Mr, Kim said one last time. 

There was a slight path through the forest that Master Zhou led Johnny along and eventually they came out at a small clearing. 

Johnny gasped when he saw the flying bison; he had never seen one in real life. It was even bigger than Johnny had imagined. But his jaw fell completely slack when he saw who was sitting atop the creature. 

“Mr. Qian, would you please come introduce yourself,” Master Zhou called. 

As if he was weightless, the man floated down from where he was previously perched and landed on the ground without making a single sound. 

Johnny tried to regain his composure, tried not to stare but he was hopelessly gaping at the Air Nomad in front of him. It hit him that this is who he would be spending the next week with and Johnny felt himself become slightly pulled away from reality as his brain ran wild with all the possibilities of what could happen over the span of this week. 

He snapped back to reality when he saw a hand move in his direction. He quickly shook the hand and bowed slightly as he did so. 

“Hello, I am Kun Qian. I will be your mentor over the next few days,” Kun said and his voice was soft as he spoke. 

“Hello, I’m Johnny Suh. It’s nice to finally meet you officially,” Johnny froze as soon as he said the words. That was stupid, he had just told the man he was waiting to meet him. 

“Oh yes, we met briefly at the market,” Kun quickly said and flashed one of his dimpled smiles in Johnny direction. Johnny was glad that the man had made his own, reasonable, meaning for what Johnny had just said. 

“Now where is Mr. –“ Master Zhou was cut off as a gust of wind spead into the clearing. 

“Mr. Lee. Ten Lee it is nice to meet you,” the gust of wind had actually been the other man Johnny had met at the market. He was sitting on what seemed to be a ball of air that could move him around. 

“I will be going now. I think you three can get well acquainted on your journey,” Master Zhou quickly said before he turned and made his way out of the clearing, leaving them alone. 

They fell into an awkward silence and Johnny hated the atmosphere that surrounded them, he felt like it was his fault. “Can I touch your bison?”

“Oh, uh of course,” Kun said as he stepped aside slightly so that Johnny had a clear path to walk towards the animal. “Her name is Minkie.”

From what he had seen in pictures, Johnny always expected flying bison fur to be coarse and thick but as Johnny ran his hand through the fur on Minkie’s chest like Kun had instructed, he felt no matted fur at all. It was soft and almost silky smooth and his fingers glided through it with ease. 

“She’s beautiful, right?” Kun now stood next to Johnny and he was also running his fingers through the bison’s fur. 

“Yeah,” Johnny said softly and he resisted the urge to bury his face into the fur. He thought he might’ve if the man he was infatuated with wasn’t standing right next to him. 

Ten cleared his throat from behind them and they both pulled back from the bison. 

“Can we get going?” Ten said, “if we leave now we can maybe get there before midnight.” He rolled his eyes. 

“Is Tennie in a bad mood?” Kun pouted at the smaller man. It took Johnny by surprise. He had only seen Kun be formal, ridged almost, and it shocked Johnny that the other man could have a silly side to him. He was human after all. 

“Can I help with your bags? Kun asked. Ten was already seated on top of the bison’s saddle. 

“Uh, I think I can manage,” Johnny said. 

“Trust me, it’s a higher jump than you think,” Kun reached out his hand, “Let me take your bags.” 

Johnny hesitated but handed Kun his bags. Kun smiled gently and then sprung up onto the bison, a gust of wind following him. 

Once Johnny had jumped up into the saddle, he was glad that he had given Kun his bags. He had, in fact, struggled slightly on his way up and he thought that Kun taking his bags would’ve been far less embarrassing than failing to mount the bison. 

Johnny felt his stomach drop a little as the bison stood up, Kun holding the reins. It was a little shakier than Johnny had imagined. But none the less, Johnny tried to settle into his seat as the bison took off with a shout from Kun. 

Johnny watched over the side of the saddle in wonder as the ascended higher and higher. He had never flown in his life, let alone been this high above the ground. 

“Oh my god,” Johnny muttered. 

Kun chuckled a little at Johnny but didn’t say anything. 

Johnny sat so that he was looking over the edge of the saddle. He marvelled at how high they were flying, the trees not looking like much more than dots on the ground. Johnny was amazed. 

“Where’d you put the water?” Ten was the first one to speak the whole trip. He was sitting at the back of the back and drawing.

“It’s in the yellow satchel,” Kun said. “Wait, I’ll get it.” 

Kun pulled out three water bottles and handed one to Johnny. 

“Thank you, K-“ Johnny froze. “Uh, Master Qian?” Johnny wasn’t quite sure how to address the Nomad. After all, they weren’t friends, Kun was his mentor.

“Kun is fine.”

Johnny relaxed once the words had been spoken, he felt more comfortable understanding where their dynamic currently stood. 

“So tell me young Johnny,” Ten put down his drawing. “Why are you doing this to yourself?” 

Firstly, Johnny was quite thrown off by the way he was addressed, he wasn’t that much younger than Ten, maybe two or three years. Secondly, Johnny had dreaded this question, especially because the reason he was doing it was sitting right beside him. 

“Well um, I didn’t really have a life plan and this was something my teacher thought would be a good choice for me,” Johnny said confidently. It wasn’t exactly a lie. 

Ten hummed, picked up his art and the silence returned. Kun moved slightly close so that he wouldn’t be shouting across to Johnny. 

“It’s okay to be nervous,” Kun assured him. 

If only Johnny could explain that he wasn’t nervous about the training, he was actually nervous about being around Kun. 

“I’m not,” Johnny tried to put on his usual confident exterior but he found that it was almost impossible around Kun. 

“How long is this trip again?” Ten interrupted. 

“We’ll be about another 9 hours if you don’t stop to pee,’ Kun answered him. 

“I’m going to have a nap,” Ten announced and Kun nodded in response and turned to Johnny again

The silence was back and Johnny couldn’t even find it in himself to fill it. 

“I take it you’ve never done this before,” Kun said as he scooted over to Johnny. “Flying I mean.”

“Never,” Johnny picked at the leather of the saddle, trying to distract himself from the close proximity of the Nomad.

“You better not get airsick,” Ten scoffed at the back of the saddle, obviously his nap wasn’t going very well.

“Ignore him,” Kun spoke, “he’s just grumpy that we’re going back home.”

Johnny froze. He had been so distracted by his infatuation that he hadn’t even thought about where he’d be going. “Home?’ Johnny questioned. 

“The Eastern Air Temple. It’s where we’re from.” Kun was now leaning back against the saddle. 

“Oh,” Johnny said plainly. 

“But don’t worry,” Kun smiled again, “we won’t be going too central. We’ll be more in the outskirts.” 

“I’ve never been to an Air Temple,” Johnny moved to lean against the saddle as well. 

“It’s not that different from the Earth Kingdom.” 

“Not that different, are you sure about that?” Johnny side eyed Kun. 

“Okay okay, it’s pretty different but I think you’ll like it,” Kun then began explaining his favourite things about his home, his favourite being the abundance of Winged Lemurs. 

The reminder that he was actually going to go through trials suddenly hit him and he felt like now would be an appropriate time to ask. 

“So what exactly will we be training in?”

Kun grinned. “I can’t tell you that until you actually undergo the training,” 

Johnny sighed. He was, again, feeling uneasy about the training and the fact the Kun was in his presence wasn’t helping. Johnny couldn’t believe how one man could affect his mood so much.

They then fell into silence again as Kun moved back to steer Minkie. 

“You should try sleep,” Kun suggested. “Trust me, it’s super relaxing to sleep up here.”

Johnny decided to take his advice and lie down. Kun even gave him a blanket and between the warmth of the blanket and the gently rocking of the saddle, Johnny fell into a long, comfortable sleep where he dreamed of Air Temples and death defying trials.

He woke up about 4 hours later and was offered lunch, he graciously took it. The rest of the flight was spent in silence again, Ten opting to keep drawing and Kun decided to entertain himself with some knitting. Johnny belatedly realised that the blanket that he had slept with was probably knitted by Kun. Johnny wondered if Kun would knit him a blanket one day. Johnny hoped he would. 

Johnny kept slipping in and out of sleep for the remained of the journey. He hadn’t bought anything to entertain himself with and he didn’t necessarily feel like holding a conversation. Johnny smiled to himself as he thought about how Doyoung would’ve reacted to that. It probably would sound something like, “Johnny Suh not wanting to be the centre of attention,” accompanied with an exasperated gasp. 

True to Kun’s word the trip took about nine and a half hours. The extra thirty minutes came from the two toilet breaks that they had stopped for, and a small stop so Kun could sort out their early dinner. 

The sun had almost finished setting by the time they arrived but there was still plenty of light for Johnny to gape at the temple, or rather the small cluster of temples that littered the sky. He had known that they floated but seeing it in real life was completely different. 

Kun flew them over the largest temple in the centre and although Johnny couldn’t see much through the greenery, he could definitely tell that it was different from the Earth Kingdom. 

“Welcome home!” Kun announced which lead Ten to groan. 

They landed at one of the furthest temples. It was one of the smaller ones and more on the outskirts of the cluster. True to Kun’s word, they were in quite a secluded area and Johnny couldn’t see any other traces of people and he wondered how far away they were from more populated areas. 

On one side of them was a ledge, if Johnny looked over the edge he could see a few other levels of houses below them. Johnny wondered how the sunsets looked from up here.

On the other side of them was a small house. It was only three tiny rooms with a small dining and cooking area, but it would plenty of space for the three of them. At least they got their own sleeping quarters. 

Johnny made a mental note to try and take a hike through all the plant life at some point, he could only imagine some of the beautiful flora, maybe he could see some of the fauna too. His heart clenched again as he thought about how much Doyoung would’ve loved studying another nations’ plant life. 

There was so much Johnny wanted to ask, to talk about but he was too overwhelmed to even attempt to hold a conversation. He felt odd tiredness in his bones as the anxiety from this morning slowly left him. He hoped that some of his spirit and confidence would return to him soon.

By the time they had moved all of their belongings into their living quarters, the sun was well set and there was no need to try and keep a conversation. Ten went straight to his room and Kun announced that he was exhausted and would also be retiring early. 

Johnny climbed onto his mattress and slipped under the covers, he had no time to remember the events of the day because as soon as his head touched the pillow, he was fast asleep. 

The sun still hadn’t risen by the time Johnny woke the next morning, his body too used to waking up at ungodly hours for early morning bending practice. 

He threw on his clothes for the day and made his way outside opting to rather not sit in the stuffy room. He was really starting to wish he had bought something to entertain himself with, maybe he should’ve borrowed one of Doyoung’s books. 

Johnny sat on the floor, leant back onto a rock few metres away from the ledge. The sun was turning the sky shades of orange and pink and it was just as incredible as Johnny had imagined. 

He closed his eyes and listened to the sounds around him, the only familiar sounds were the buzzing insects and whirling wind. He didn’t have enough knowledge of the Air Nomads animals to place the noises. 

“Copper piece for your thoughts?” 

Johnny jumped at the sudden intrusion and whipped around to see Kun standing just a few meters away, tea tray in hand. But what made Johnny startle even more was that he wasn’t wearing his usual full coverage robes and instead he wore the typical orange and beige baggy Air Nomad trousers, and on his top was nothing besides a piece of orange material draped diagonally across his chest. 

“Sorry, did I interrupt something?” Kun said when Johnny hadn’t responded. 

“No sorry uhm, you just startled me is all,” Johnny assured him. 

“May I join you then?” Kun asked and only approached once Johnny had nodded. 

Johnny thought he just might faint when Kun untied the material from his chest and draped I on the ground in front of them and set down the tea on top of it and took a seat. 

Like this Johnny could follow the arrow tattoos all the way down his back and onto his arms, he could also see the definition in Kun’s muscles. 

“Do you want some tea?” Kun asked, picking up the teapot. 

“Uh, yes please,” Johnny answered and took the cup once it was handed to him. 

Kun took a sip of his tea and then looked at Johnny. “I was doing some thinking the morning and we barely know anything about each other. If I’m going to train you, I think we better know each other a bit more. So let’s take turns asking questions.”

“Okay, yeah,’ Johnny nodded. 

“You can start,” Kun suggested.

The first few questions were very surface level, Kun had explained how he was born here, that he was an only child, his mother trained him in air bending, Ten was his best friend since childhood and that he liked knitting. Johnny spoke of his home life, his brother and mother, Doyoung, Mr, Kim and his love for watching rock fighting. 

The tension had definitely eased up and Johnny felt his confidence return. 

“Hmm, please don’t take this the wrong way,” Kun said. “But everyone kept telling me how boisterous you are, how you’re too cocky for your own good but I haven’t seen you act like that at all, so where has all of that confidence gone? ” 

Johnny chuckled, “I guess it depends on the environment I’m in but don’t worry, that cockiness will be back soon.”

Kun smiled. “I think it’s already coming back.” 

Johnny rolled his eyes. “Okay my turn, uh why did you join the White Lotus.” 

Kun’s smile faltered for a second but he quickly corrected it. “My dad was a member but he got terribly injured, he’s not really himself anymore but I uh, thought to carry on his honour I’d join the Order.”

“Oh, Kun, I’m so sorry for asking,” Johnny didn’t really know how to handle the situation; he was never the best when dealing with emotions. 

“It’s okay,” Kun smiled back, even though it was still lacking something. 

Johnny opted to offer up a piece of him without being asked, hoping it would clear the air. “I don’t really remember my dad, he left when I was a baby. Anyway um, next question?” 

Kun nodded, “let’s see, what’s your favourite earth bending move?” 

“This,” Johnny said and he instantly lifted the earth under him to make a chair. “It comes in handy.”

Kun laughed. “I’m sure it does.” 

Johnny lowered himself down back to the ground level. “So, at risk of sounding ignorant, can I ask about your tattoos.” Johnny had been fascinated by them but lacked knowledge in other nation to know their true meaning.

“What exactly?” Kun questioned

“Why do you get them?” Johnny asked.

“To put it simply, we learnt air bending from the bison so we took their markings and we get them done when we’ve mastered the thirty six tiers of air bending,” Kun answered. 

“Did they hurt?” Johnny was genuinely curious. 

“A little, but not anymore,” Kun answered

Johnny wondered if one day he’d have the privilege of tracing them. 

“And you? Do you earth benders get any markings or anything?” Kun poured himself some more tea. 

“Not really, my mom keeps joking that she’d teach me how to do the Kyoshi warrior makeup though,” Johnny laughed fondly at the memory. 

“Your mom was a Kyoshi warrior?” Kun’s eyes went wide. 

“Yup.” 

“Honestly things are making so much sense about you now,” Kun joked. 

“What’s that supposed to mean!” Johnny started laughing and he playfully slapped Kun on the shoulder. He froze as soon as he realised what he’d done but Kun didn’t seem to notice, so Johnny allowed himself not to overthink it.

Once they had stopped laughing, Johnny thought of something that had been gnawing at his thoughts since yesterday. “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way but, why did they choose you to train me? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d much rather have you than some random seventy year old but I was just curious.” Johnny was scared that Master Zhou had spilt his secret to someone else or, worse, Kun himself.

“Master Iniki told me it was because they were so excited to have some young blood that they didn’t want to scare them away. They thought someone younger would be better to help with training.” Kun stated simply.

It seemed his secret was safe for now and he could relax into that fact. “Well I’m glad it’s you, you seem to be making this quite enjoyable.”

Kun smiled one of his beautiful dimpled smiles and Johnny felt himself melt a little. Johnny started, “One last question-“

“Hey! I thought this was back and forth questions, not Johnny asks and Kun answers,” Kun’s quipped and Johnny froze, feeling scared he had overstepped, but then Kun started laughing causing Johnny to do the same. “I’m joking, carry on.” 

The lightness in Johnny’s voice as he spoke matched the atmosphere “I know this isn’t really about you and it might not be my place but can I ask what’s up with Ten?”

“Well-“

“Why don’t you ask me face to face?” They both froze as Ten approached from behind them, Johnny watched as a moment of fleeting panic flashed across Kun’s face. 

“Sorry, I-“ Johnny tried, not really sure where he was going. 

“It’s fine,” Ten took a seat across from them, slightly blocking Johnny’s view of the horizon. “I don’t like being home, it brings back too many memories of bad times but I shouldn’t be taking that out on you.” 

Johnny was slightly taken aback by how Ten cut straight to the point. “I see, sorry for making you come back here.”

“It’s fine,” Ten smiled slightly. 

“Will you be training me as well?” Johnny asked, not really sure of the dynamic yet. 

Ten let out a little chuckle. “Oh no, I’m just here to make sure nothing terrible happens.”

Johnny felt his face visibly drain of colour at the statement, how bad was this training that something terrible could happen. It seemed like Kun and Ten had noticed his paling as they both started laughing.

“He’s overexerting,” Kun laughed. “Nothing terrible can happen. He’s just here to take notes.” 

Johnny willed himself to relax, things were fine. He would be fine. 

“Right then,” Ten clapped his hands together. “I’m starving! We need to get some food up here?” 

“Agreed, Johnny and I can run to the market to gather supplies and then we can start training. Unless you want to come with us?” 

Ten shook his head, a grimace on his face. “I’d rather not see anyone.”

As they stood up from their spot Ten called back to Kun. “Maybe change out of the sexy getup and put on your shirt?” 

Johnny was sure he saw Kun blush, but he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, so he willed it to the back of his mind until he was ready to process it.

Kun had flown them, on Minkie, to one of the bigger, more central temples where the market stood. It wasn’t too different from the market in the Earth Kingdom, a market was a market after all. 

The main difference was that everyone was dressed in shades of orange and beige, causing Johnny to stick out like a sore thumb in his green attire. He ignored the whispers as him and Kun filled baskets with essential items they would need for the next few days. 

On their way back Kun had spoken of the different temples in the cluster. He explained how the one they were staying on belonged to the Lotus but was completely deserted at the moment as the Air Nomads were all either at the Earth Kingdom or on other guard duty. 

Once they had returned and everyone had eaten, Kun and Johnny sat at a small table just outside the house, Kun having said he would now inform Johnny of the training process. Johnny could feel his heart beating against his chest, hear the blood rumbling in his ears and he tried desperately to wipe the nervous sweat off of his hands. 

This was something that had left him feeling anxious for days and now he would finally have answers. 

Kun looked at him, his eyes serious. “Johnny, as you well know, we are at the Eastern Air Temple so that you can undergo your training and face the final challenge to become a White Lotus. Are you ready to accept your training?”

Johnny took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, I’m ready.”

“Your only training will be in,” Kun reached under the table and pulled something from underneath it, “Pai Sho!”

Johnny stared a Kun blankly, not sure how to react and Kun burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. 

“Oh my god Johnny! I told you not to worry,” Kun laughed. 

Johnny felt his body go numb as all the anxiety bled out of him. “You’re telling me all I have to do is play Pai Sho? I thought I would be doing death defying fight training or something! I was stressed for days.” 

Kun seemed unable to stop laughing as he set up the board. “I’m so sorry, I would have told you sooner but we have to keep some kind of secrecy or else every random guy will want to join the Order.” 

It made sense. 

“But don’t be too fooled, your final trial is to get given a White Lotus tile by Master Zhou. The only way to do that is to beat him at a game of Pai Sho.” Kun explained as he finished setting up the board. “How much do you know about Pai Sho.”

“Uhh, I think I’m pretty okay at it. I play with Doyoung sometimes.” At this moment, Johnny was thankful his best friend forced him to do things sometimes. 

“That’s great! Most people don’t even know the pieces when they start training.” Kun smiled up at him and a sense of hope filled Johnny. He could do this. 

They spent the remained of the day at the table, Kun explaining the various plays and how to effectively use them. Johnny lost the first few practice rounds and he was growing increasingly frustrated. The sun was just set as they played their last round. 

“I won!” Johnny yelled out. He stood up and wiggled his hips as a victory dance. 

Kun laughed at the ministration. “Congratulations, I’m impressed. I’ve never heard of a trainee beating their mentor on the first day. At this rate, you’ll be ready in a few days.” 

Johnny felt a pride bloom in his chest at the compliments didn’t often affect him, he was too full of himself, but Kun’s praise had him trying to hide the blush on his cheeks as they packed up the Pai Sho board.

By the time Johnny had finished washing up for the evening, Kun had already prepared dinner. Johnny salivated as the smell hit him as he walked out of the bathroom 

“You can also cook, is there anything you can’t do?” Johnny announced as he entered the small dining area. 

Kun blushed a little and Johnny felt a smile creep onto his face, knowing that he caused it. “I made dumplings, I hope that’s okay?”

“Oh my god,” Johnny said as he sat in his seat. “Dumplings are literally my favourite!”

“You never make my favourite food,” Ten rolled his eyes.

Johnny laughed to himself, this situation feeling all too familiar. “Ten, I think you’d get along great with my friend Doyoung.” 

They ate over comfortable conversation and when they were finished Ten went to go light a fire for them, deciding to spend the evening under the stars. 

“You should have seen his face,” Kun laughed, clutching his stomach. “He was so shocked.” 

Johnny started laughing too. “I thought I was going to have to fight a badgermole or something!” 

Ten had joined them in laughing. “I can only imagine how he looked. I remember how I felt when they told me that all I had to do was play Pai Sho.”

“You know, you’re actually pretty lucky to be doing your training with us,” Kun said. “I think this is much more pleasant than 5 nights in the freezing cold South Pole with an eighty five year old man yelling at you for making the wrong move.” 

“You think that’s bad?” Ten started, “I spent my training in the Fire Nation with a batty old woman who would try burn my hands if I messed up.”

“Okay, I agree. I am happy to be doing this with you.” Johnny felt truly content in this moment, all other worries long forgotten. 

Ten let out a yawn and stood up. “I’m calling it a night.” A murmur of parting greetings went around the small circle and then Johnny and Kun were left alone. 

They sat in silence, admiring the stars. The moon was almost full and cast ample light to allow Johnny to trace the features of Kun’s face.

“I’m also calling it a night,” Johnny announced after a while and he stood up. “Thank you for making this so bearable.” 

“Thank you for being such a good student,” Kun smiled up at him. “Do you want to put out the fire?”

Johnny nodded and bended the earth so that it rose up and smothered the flames. 

“Good night Johnny,” Kun said as they walked into the house. 

“Good night Kun,” Johnny replied and Kun gently reached out to squeeze his shoulder as they walked into their separate rooms. 

Even after he had changed into his sleep clothes, the touch still lingered on Johnny’s skin as he fell asleep.

The next four days were spent much the same. Johnny and Kun would sit to together and have tea as the sun rose; Johnny tried not to think about how the proximity of their seats became closer and closer each morning. 

Then in the afternoons, they would train in Pai Sho. Johnny was winning more and more games and he had even played, and beaten, Ten a few times. 

In the evenings Kun would prepare a delicious dinner and after their meal, they would find ways to entertain themselves. They would often sit under the stars and talk about various things. They sometimes took notes on the positions of the stars. One night Kun had even tried to teach Johnny how to knit, which ended in the two of them huddled so close together that their thighs were touching. Ten had left them quickly that night. 

Johnny’s feelings for the Air Nomad had not faded in the slightest if anything they had gotten stronger. He had learned to love the smaller details of Kun. How his laugh went a little squeaky when he laughed particularly hard. How his eyebrows rose when he smiled, making his mole more prominent. It was crazy how Johnny had fallen so fast in such a short time. Part of him hated himself for it as he knew deep down that this wasn’t going to work.

On their last morning there Johnny woke up and made his way out to their usual spot to wait for Kun, but he didn’t come. Johnny felt his heart sink when the sun had risen fully. He made a mistake, Kun could never like him. 

Johnny jumped out of his skin again as Kun emerged from the tress to his left. 

“I’m sorry, did I startle you?” Kun grimaced slightly.

“No, I’m fine,’ Johnny replied. 

“Come with me, I want to show you something,” Kun motioned for Johnny to stand up as he started walking into the trees again. 

They walked up a winding path through the greenery for about 15 minutes, Johnny stopping every so often to inspect a plant he had never seen before until they reached what seemed to be a dead end. 

Johnny had expected the vines to be clinging to a wall, but they weren’t. The vines moved out of the way as Kun pushed his hand through them, revealing a small, hidden alcove. 

Not far from where they stood was a waterfall that flowed into a lively looking rock pool, the surrounding walls were all rock face, covered in various vines and there was a soft, constant chirping of birds.

“Wow,” Johnny gaped at the beauty. 

He hadn’t even noticed that Kun had walked to the edge of the rock pool. “Let’s go for a swim,” Kun said as he pulled his shirt over his head, discarding it to the side. Then Johnny tried not to let his jaw hit the floor as Kun shimmied out of his pants, leaving him in nothing but his underwear. 

Like this Johnny could see how the tattoos covered every part of him. It was incredible how the blue lines ran smoothly across his lean, but toned frame. 

Kun jumped into the water before Johnny could even comprehend what was happening. “Aren’t you coming?”

Johnny snapped out of whatever trance he was in. “No, I am.” He quickly stripped and jumped in after Kun. The water was colder than he had expected and left him gasping slightly as he came up for air. 

“This is where I used to come to get away from everything. My secret place,” Kun explained as the waded in the water. 

“I can see why you like it so much, it beautiful in here,” Johnny replied. 

“There’s something else I want to show you,” Kun swam closer to the waterfall. “Go under the fall and you’ll be fine.” And then he ducked under the water and disappeared. 

Johnny took a deep breath before he went under, part of him was scared the current would sweep him away, but he came up unscathed on the other side into a dimly lit cave. 

A few winged lemurs were perched on the rocks jutting out of the wall. “Oh my god.” Johnny let out. “They’re so cute!” 

Kun laughed a little and offered Johnny a hand to help him out the water. It was strange to so easily grab Kun’s hand. 

“They’re friendly too, if you want to pet them,” Kun took a step closer to the wall and started petting one of them. “I think they live here because they can easily catch and eat fish.” 

Johnny walked up to the one next to Kun and started petting it gently, it stirred in its sleep and Johnny retracted his hand quickly.

“It’s fine, they won’t hurt you,” Kun reassured and Johnny reached out for the animal again. It wasn’t quite as soft as the bison but Johnny could still imagine having one as a pet and stroking its fur all day long. 

When they were finished playing with the lemurs they sat inside the small cave, feet hanging into the water. 

“Thank you for this,” Johnny said. “I’m so glad you shared this with me.” 

“I’m glad I had someone to share it with,” Kun answered. 

Johnny decided to do something crazy; he lifted his hand and placed it onto Kun's. He expected Kun to pull way, but he didn’t and Johnny the familiar butterflied in his stomach again.

After sitting in silence for a while longer Kun pulled away and Johnny couldn’t help but miss the warmth of the hand under his. “We should get going. We still have one last round of training to do.”

Johnny nodded as he dove back into the water.

Once they had returned to their house, hair still slightly damp, Ten was sitting at their usual Pai Sho table. “Great training you two are doing.” 

“I-“ Kun started. 

“I’m kidding, but please actually do some training,” Ten stood up and walked away, turning around to quickly say, “I hope you enjoyed your date,” before he sped away. 

Johnny chose to pretend he didn’t hear it and Kun did the same, except the pink blush on Kun’s cheeks had proved that he did hear it. 

That afternoon Johnny won seven out of their eight games and Kun deemed him as ready as he’d ever be to face Master Zhou and Johnny had felt confident in himself too. 

Dinner that evening was dumplings again, Kun claimed that they were just easy for him to make but Ten left a snide comment that Kun only found them easy around Johnny. None the less, Johnny really enjoyed Kun’s dumplings and he really hoped that he’d have the privilege of eating them again. 

Their last night much the same as their first one, Ten had lit a fire and they sat around it, sharing stories. 

“Okay, what’s the stupid thing you’ve ever done?” Ten asked the group through a giggle. 

“One time I got out of writing a test by blowing all the papers into the gutter,” Kun admitted. “I got into so much trouble.” 

Ten and Johnny started laughing. “Mr. goodie toe shoes has done something naughty?” Ten laughed.

“And you, Johnny?” Kun asked. 

“Well this wasn’t technically me but my best friend Doyoung, a few weeks ago I watched him push a cabbage cart at someone-“ Johnny froze, his whole body going numb. What had had he done? The part of the story of Kun being hit with the cart seemed to have completely lapsed in his memory. 

“Hey, that’s so funny, once Kun was hit by a-“ Ten stopped himself, piecing it together. 

“That was you?” Kun’s voice was stern, no hint of humour anywhere in it, his expression was harsh. He looked hurt and Johnny hated it. “You were involved in that robbery? You damaged that fountain?”

Johnny gingerly nodded.

“I’m gonna go,” Ten whispered as he slipped into the house, away from the situation. 

“I can’t believe you! You stole and you destroyed property. What kind of White Lotus would you be?” Kun’s words stung but the look of betrayal on his face was worse. “You’re not who I thought you were.” 

Kun stood up to leave and Johnny grabbed his hand to stop him. “Kun, please listen to me.”

“What’s there to say,” Kun tried to shake his hand away but Johnny held it strong. 

“Please, just listen,” Johnny begged and when Kun didn’t budge he continued. “We did it for good reason okay. The people down by the river, they have nothing, they’re struggling too much and we just thought that we could help. So we stole some things and gave them to them. We just wanted to help because no one else was.” 

Kun’s expression softened a little around the edges and he let his hand fall slack in Johnny’s grip. “Oh Johnny, i-“ Kun seemed to lighten up a little but not completely. “I just wish you had told me. Is there anything else you’re hiding from me?” 

Johnny took a deep breath, there was actually something else. “Actually, there is. It’s uh, it’s about you. You’re the main reason I decided to join the Order. I saw you that day. I just knew I had to see you again and I thought I could do that by joining the White Lotus. And I know it‘s dumb and that’s how it started, a stupid infatuation but now I know you and I know that you’re so much more than a beautiful face and I’m so sorry I’m rambling.”

Kun’s expression had turned into something akin to bewilderment. “Johnny I, I-“

“I like you Kun and this isn’t how I wanted to tell you but here we are,” Johnny sucked in a breath, fear prevalent as he anticipated Kun’s next movement. 

“Johnny, I like you too, oh my god I like you,” Kun sighed, it seemed like he’d been holding it in for a while. “Since that day you bumped into me at the market, I knew you were special.” 

“Finally!” Ten called from where he was peeping out of the doorway of the house, earning him Kun’s shoe flying at his head. 

“We’re okay then?” Johnny asked and he took Kun’s other hand in his. 

“We’re okay,” Kun squeezed his hands reassuringly then he wrapped his arms around Johnny’s neck and Johnny enjoyed the warm embracing, knowing he could do this again made it even warmer. 

The journey back was a lot more pleasant than the flight there. There was no longer an awkwardness lingering in the air and everyone seemed very comfortable. 

Kun had spent a fair amount of the trip showing Johnny how to fly Minkie and Johnny found he really enjoyed flying the bison. When Johnny had confessed this, Kun had said that he would let Johnny do it again sometime. It gave Johnny hope. Hope that things would continue between them. 

“When we arrive, Ten and I will first see the Masters and then you will face Master Zhou in your final trail,” Kun had explained at some point in their trip. 

They had also reiterated that Johnny should not tell anyone of what the training and trail were, as it was meant to be kept secret. Ten had joked that the only reason they still keep it a secret is to mess with prospective members and Kun had somewhat agreed, except Kun believed that if people knew of the joining procedure, they would have an influx of new applicants. Johnny had deduced that the rule was somewhat redundant but he could also see why it was in place. 

Much like the previous flight, Ten and Johnny had slept for a large portion of it and Kun had to shake both of them awake just before they reached the earth kingdom. 

“Don’t be nervous,” Kun had whispered to Johnny as he began to lower Minkie to the ground just outside the White Lotus headquarters. Their very early departure had ensured that it was still daytime when they arrived back. Part of Johnny wished that he could spend more time at the temple but he hoped that he would be able to spend ample time there with Kun if he passed his challenge. 

“I’m not,” Johnny replied truthfully, he wasn’t nervous, he knew he had done all he could.

Once they had landed Kun’s smile grew as he motioned for Johnny to turn around to see his family and friends waiting for him. He quickly jumped off of the bison and instantly went towards them. 

His mother was the first to get to him, she hugged him tight as she started rambling, “I’m so glad you’re back and safe. Are you hurt? What did they do to you? Was it scary?”

Johnny gave her a squeeze before he pulled out of the embrace. “I’m fine mom, everything’s fine.” Johnny smiled at her gently. 

Doyoung and Mr. Kim were also there, so was Donghyuck and he had even dragged Mark along. Looking at them, Johnny realized that he actually missed them more than he had thought, as much as he hated to admit it. He thought about how frequently he would have to leave them if he got given his position but then Kun walked up next to him and he was reminded that he wouldn’t be alone. 

“You look more than happy,” Doyoung whispered into his ear as they hugged. “I wonder if it has anything to do with the man you spent the last week with.”

Johnny pinched him in the side. “I’ll tell you about it later.” 

Donghyuck had also hugged his brother hello and Mark had waved from where he stood. 

Belatedly Johnny remembered the two other people in their proximity. “Um, this is Kun, he trained me and this is Ten, he accompanied us.” Johnny introduced them. “Kun, Ten, these are my friends and family.”

“It’s very nice to meet you all,” Kun bowed in greeting. 

Everyone greeted back and then Johnny’s mom spoke, “I hope you took good care of my son.” 

“Oh I think he took excellent care of you,” Doyoung whispered, earning him a jab in the side, but Johnny heard what he said and he was sure Kun had to. 

“We are going to see Master Zhou now if you excuse us,” Kun said politely before him and Ten parted ways with them. 

As soon as they were out of earshot Mr. Kim began bombarding Johnny with questions. “What was your training in? Do you know your challenge yet? Do you think you’ll be accepted?” 

“Sorry, Mr. Kim but I’m not allowed to speak of it,” Johnny answered. 

“Was it scary?” Donghyuck asked.

“A little scary, yeah,” Johnny lied. 

“You and I have so much talking to do,” Doyoung whispered to him. “I can’t believe it was him. Only you would be this lucky”

“I can’t believe it either,” Johnny whispered back. 

“Are you two, like, a thing?” Doyoung asked, quirking his eyebrow. 

“It’s complicated,” Johnny sighed. “He likes me back though.”

“I give you until the end of the week to kiss.”

“Hmm I don’t think so,” Johnny reasoned.

They spent the next half an hour speaking about Johnny travels. He told them about the Easter Air Temple and what it was like to fly. When he told them about the winged lemurs Donghyuck and Mark had both whined about how they wanted to meet lemurs too. 

When Kun and Ten left the building they came straight to Johnny. 

“Master Zhou will see you now,” Kun announced. Just as Johnny was going to walk away, Kun stopped him and pulled him into a hug. “Good luck,” Kun whispered one last time. 

Johnny watched over Kun’s shoulder as Doyoung winked at him and he rolled his eyes. “Thank you,” he whispered back to Kun. 

“You’ve got this!” Doyoung and Ten called in unison as Johnny began to walk away. He laughed to himself at how similar the two men actually were. 

Master Zhou was seated in the same seat and position as their first meeting, the only difference this time was the Pai Sho board that sat on the table in front of him. 

“Mr. Suh, please take a seat,” Master Zhou instructed. 

Johnny did as he was told and sat facing the older man. 

“You seem well, Master Zhou observed. He righted himself in his chair so that he was sitting with both his feet firmly on the ground, the ridged posture threw Johnny off as he never seen the other man so proper. 

“I feel well, thank you,” Johnny replied. 

“Shall we begin,” Master Zhou seemed to be done with conversation, now ready to play. 

For the first time today, Johnny felt nervous. The man’s whole expression changed as he moved his first piece. Gone were the soft eyes and crooked smile, instead his eyes help ferocity and the lines on his face hardened. 

Johnny willed the shaking out of his hands as he moved his first piece, refusing to show any sign of nervousness. 

Johnny nerves only grew as the game continued. Every time he seemed to be taking the lead, Master Zhou would pull an amazing move and regain the upper hand. 

Johnny’s heart sank as Master Zhou moved his final piece, winning the game. He had lost. It was over. Johnny swallowed around the lump in his throat, too scared to speak out of fear of his voice giving way. 

“Good game Mr Suh,” Master Zhou nodded as he rolled the White Lotus tile between his thumb and forefinger. 

“Thank you, Master Zhou,” Johnny bowed. He couldn’t fathom much more, the numbness slowly overtaking his body. “You’re an excellent player.” 

“Thank you,” Master Zhou had returned to his usual position with one leg slung over the chair of his arm, his posture more relaxed. “Mr. Suh, do you know why we sent Mr. Lee on your training expedition?”

Johnny wasn’t sure why he was still being held here, he just wanted to go outside and hide away from the failure. “Uh, he was there to take notes?” Johnny replied. 

“He was taking notes on you. All your actions, your words, stories, even the practice games against M. Qian,” Master Zhou explained and Johnny nodded. “He told me the story of how you and your friend, Dobum, is it? He told me about your little robbery adventure.” 

Johnnys heart sunk impossibly further but he had not time to even reply as Master Zhou continued. 

“I think your actions that day represent you as a person and I am lead to belive that you hold the core values of the White Lotus. So I would like to give you this.” 

Master Zhou present the White Lotus tile to Johnny, who hesitated to take it. 

“But I didn’t complete the trial,” Johnny said, confused at the situation.

“Mr. Suh, your whole week at the Air Temple was part of your trials, which you passed, this final game is important but it is not everything. Even I lose sometimes. Now if you do not take the tile I will take the offer off the table.” 

Johnny reached forward and grabbed the tile, something so small but with so much significance. It was an amazing feeling to have achieved something he put his mind to. 

“Thank you, Master Zhou,” Johnny felt on the verge of tears again, but for a different reason this time. Happy tears.

“It is my pleasure,” Master Zhou smiled. “And please tell your friend Dorun-‘

“Doyoung,” Johnny corrected. 

“Please tell Doyoung that there is a position on our logistics team if he would like to take it, I think he’d be a perfect fit.”

“Thank you so much, I’m sure he would appreciate that.”

“I think you should go give your family the good news then,” Master Zhou suggested and he made a move to stand up, Johnny followed quickly. “Oh and for the love of all things, please tell that Air Nomad how you feel.” Johnny smiled as he walked away, he would do so much more. 

Johnny hid the tile in his fist, trying to keep everyone in suspense as he walked out of the building. It seemed that everyone had waited for him only a few meters away from the exit. 

As soon as they saw him, he was bombarded with questions. He slowly bought his hand forward to reveal the small White Lotus tile. A series of cheers left the group as they all started congratulating him. 

Johnny made a beeline for Kun and as soon as they were close enough Johnny wrapped his arms around him. “Thank you so much,” Johnny whispered. 

“I’m so happy for you,” Kun whispered back. 

Johnny pulled back and looked Kun in the eyes before he leant in and pressed their lips together. Kun froze at first, purely out of shock, but then he began to kiss back. It was incredible, the feeling of Kun’s lips against his. It was something he had only dreamed of but now it was reality. 

When they pulled away from one another Doyoung and Ten let out an excited squeal followed by a, “finally!” and Mark and Donghycuk let out a gag.

Both Kun and Johnny laughed into their next short kiss, this all feeling too surreal. 

“I really, really like you Kun Qian,” Johnny whispered as he pressed their foreheads together. 

“You’re very lucky that I really, really like you too, Johnny Suh.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed please leave a kudos or comment! I really like hearing feedback, so comments are greatly appreciated.


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